Aki Tsurukame
Since 1980 when founder and CEO of California Coordinators, Inc., Aki Tsurukame, begun to help what became more than 25 Japanese technology companies establish factories and sales offices in the US and Mexico, he created an astounding track record of success. As it grew, he positioned Southern California technology companies as well to secure partners in Japan and, together, developed a network of cooperation and business success that set the
mark for a thriving introductory and business development system between the two countries.
Unrivaled, he went on to organize the first US-Japan technology executives conference, Pacific Technology Roundtables, in Tokyo, in 1985, 1987, 1990 and the US-Japan IT Networking conference in 2000. As a new growth strategy, Aki launched Yugobi Inc. to support Japan’s small and medium-sized companies to market their products through e-commerce.
His volunteer activities span the publication of the quarterly magazine, Kawaraban, created for Japanese seniors residing in the United States, as well as involvement in Japan-US sister-city exchange programs. Kawaraban was launched in 2019 under the concept of “a newsletter for seniors, by seniors, and for seniors,” and has published 23 issues to date.
His involvement in sister-city exchange activities now spans for than half a century. Through the Los Angeles-Nagoya Sister City Committee, he served for seven years as a volunteer interpreter for the, then, Mayor Tom Bradley. He went on to serve as a volunteer interpreter for successive mayors through the Torrance-Kashiwa Sister City Committee.
He is the recipient of numerous awards, including from City of Los Angeles, City of Torrance, County of Los Angeles, and the State of California. He is a graduate of Kyoto University in Foreign Studies. In 2025 he joined the foundation as a founding board member.
